Sacrificing the Soul
by Jordyn
Summary: A side of Rita Repulsa that we never saw


Disclaimer: Saban is still evil, and owns all these characters. I'm still a poor high school student so obviously I dont make money off of this... oo and Savage Garden owns the song...  
  
  
  
Sacrificing the Soul  
by: Jordyn  
  
  
  
Rita slipped quietly out of the throne room. Glancing into the royal quarters, she observed Zedd thrown across their bed. Whether he was asleep or unconscious she wasn't sure. Walking carefully around the broken door, as not to wake him, she passed down the hallway. Along the way she stopped in order to pick up stray pieces of broken furniture or stone. The servants had disappeared at the first sign of trouble, thus the fight had lasted long into the night. Zedd held nothing back when there were no witnesses.   
  
  
  
*******  
And she takes another step   
Slowly she opens the door   
Check that he is sleeping   
Pick up all the broken glass  
And furniture on the floor   
Been up half the night screaming  
Now it's time to get away   
  
******  
  
  
Rita touched the bruise on her cheek gingerly as she walked into the nursery. She winced, wondering what excuses she hadn't already used. The universe was quickly coming to believe that she was the clumsiest person in it. She brushed off her thoughts as she picked up her two children, a son and a daughter. She cast a soft sleep spell, so they wouldn't awake. She noticed that her youngest whimpered slightly, but quickly calmed in her mother's arms.   
  
Rita placed the two children into the back seat of the ship and buckled them in. As she started the ship and flew away from the palace, she fought with herself not to look back. She kept moving, and fighting with herself, even after the palace had disappeared from scanner range.   
  
  
  
*******  
Pack up the kids in the car   
Another bruise to try and hide   
Another alibi to write  
  
Another ditch in the road  
You keep moving   
Another stop sign   
You keep moving on   
And the years go by so fast  
Wonder how I ever made it through  
  
*******  
  
  
Rita looked back at her two sleeping children. They had hid in the other room during the fight. She knew they had. And she knew that she had to get them away, somewhere safe. Curious, wondering how they slept so peacefully, she cast a small spell and observed their dreams. The girl was too young to dream in anything but emotions. But they were warm, gentle and loving; things that should have repulsed the evil empress, but didn't. The boy was dreaming of games and summer days. And of the new toys he had recently received from his Uncle Rito. Rita sighed, and briefly wished she still had the innocence of a child.  
  
  
  
*******  
And there are children to think of   
Baby's asleep in the back seat   
Wonder how they'll ever make it,  
Through this living nightmare   
But the mind's an amazing thing   
Full of candy dreams and new toys...  
  
*******  
  
  
"Computer stop at Onyx." Rita knew that they had to stop somewhere for some rest. And she had to talk to some people.   
  
The ship landed on the outskirts of the main spaceport. Carrying her youngest, and leading the older by his hand Rita maneuvered her way through the crowds to the tavern, ignoring the curious looks thrown her way.   
  
The tavern owner sighed as he saw who had just entered. He walked over to Rita and bowed to her, before swinging the boy up into his arms, who laughed tiredly. The tavern owner, a being known as Finster, looked pointedly at the bruise spreading across Rita's cheek. She quickly turned her head.   
  
"What happened, my Empress?" he asked her.   
  
"I... um... I hit myself with the ship's door." She lied quickly.   
  
Finster pushed nothing, but it was clear that he didn't believe her. "Same room as before, my lady?" At her nod he turned and led her up the stairs. The room was small, with two single beds and a dim light. The only other thing in the room was a small synthetron. Rita lay her daughter on one of the beds, and her son climbed up on to it as well. He cuddled close to his sister and was soon sleeping peacefully.  
  
  
  
*******  
And another cheap hotel   
Two beds and a coffee machine   
But there are groceries to buy   
And she knows she'll have to go home  
  
*******  
  
  
"Divatox is here," Finster said suddenly. Rita looked up startled.   
  
"She is? Can you tell her I want to see her?"   
  
Finster looked startled by the request. He was much more used to orders from the powerful empress. He nodded quickly, and bowed out of the room.   
  
Moments later the Pirate Queen swept into Rita's room. "Sister... you really mus..." she trailed off after one look at Rita. She was by her sister's side in an instant. "Rita? Come on girl look at me." Turning her sister's face gently she examined the bruise. "Oh Rita... that bastard again? Why don't you just leave him?"   
  
Rita shook her head. "I can't. He's all I have right now. Master Vile is still mad at me, and would probably blast me on site. I have to go home."   
  
Divatox shook her head. Rita sniffed noisily and then started laughing slightly as she brushed her tears away. "Look at me. If my enemies could see me now. Me, Rita Repulsa , Empress of Evil crying in a small room on the tavern of Onyx."  
  
  
  
*******  
Another ditch in the road   
You keep moving   
Another stop sign   
You keep moving on   
And the years go by so fast  
Wonder how I ever made it through  
  
*******  
  
  
Divatox hugged her sister. "You're stronger than anyone I know." She hesitated. "But what about...?"   
  
"The kids?" At Divatox's nod Rita sighed. She brushed a stray lock of hair back from her son's forehead. "I'm not taking them back with me. I can't keep them there, waiting for Zedd to turn on them too. No... I have to give them up." She turned to Divatox. "Maybe Ecliptor..." she broke off as Divatox shook her head.   
  
"Nope. He just took on a new pupil, given to him by Dark Specter. A young girl, from that human colony in the Kerovian system. Apparently Darkonda kidnapped the child. They're calling her Astronema, the next Princess of Evil."   
  
Rita sniffed as her only hope was crushed. Then, an idea formed cautiously in the back of her mind. "Earth..." she whispered.   
  
Divatox looked at her like she was insane. "Are you kidding?? Zordon's there. He'll kill them!"   
  
Rita shook her head. "He won't know. And no one will ever find them there." A plan formed. "Divatox... I need to borrow the SubCraft. My ship won't make it to Earth quick enough."   
  
Divatox sighed. "Only to save my niece and nephew from that monster Zedd. I don't know how you've put up with him for so long."   
  
Rita sighed. "I don't know either..."  
  
  
  
*******  
Another bruise to try and hide   
Another alibi to write   
Another lonely highway in the black of night   
But there's hope in the darkness   
You know you're going to make it  
  
*******  
  
  
Rita looked at her children one last time. They were both asleep. She kissed the girl's forehead and then wrote a quick note. Her name is Ashley. She attached it to the blanket before sending the small bundle to an orphanage on the planet below.   
  
Rita blinked back her tears as she quickly blocked the boy's memory. He would remember nothing of her, or his bastard of a father except in his dreams. His name is Rockwell. She wrote quickly on the note. She then delivered him to another orphanage, across the country from his sister.   
  
And as the SubCraft left the orbit around Earth, and Rita left her children behind with no memory of her, the good and warmth that had survived for so long in her heart withered and died. Gone was the merciful Empress of Evil. Born was the hard, cold, ruthless Queen that would one day face the Power Rangers on the small, backwater planet of Earth. And her children, now destined to be two of Earth's defenders, never would know of the mother that had sacrificed her soul for them.  
  
  
  
*******  
Another ditch in the road   
Keep moving   
Another stop sign   
You keep moving on   
And the years go by so fast  
Silent fortress built to last   
Wonder how I ever made it   
  
*******   
  



End file.
